The bolder, fanned-out spike of ejecta to the left of the asteroid is in the general direction from which DART approached.Īccording to their initial findings, though, the brightness of the asteroid system increased threefold after impact. The Hubble images show ejecta from the impact that appear as rays stretching out from the body of the asteroid. These images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, taken (left to right) 22 minutes, 5 hours, and 8.2 hours after NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) intentionally impacted Dimorphos, show expanding plumes of ejecta from the asteroid’s body. NASA shared a timelapse GIF of the images that JWST captured. NASA says that JWST picked up images of "a tight, compact core, with plumes of material appearing as wisps streaming away from the center of where the impact took place." JWST, which captured 10 images over five hours, will continue to collect spectroscopic data from the asteroid system in the coming months to help researchers better understand the chemical composition of Dimorphos. The ultimate aim is to develop a system that can divert incoming asteroids away from Earth. This is an important aspect of the test, as the data can help researchers figure out if crashing spacecraft into an asteroid can change its orbit. NASA says that being able to observe data from multiple wavelengths will help scientists figure out if big chunks of material left Dimorphos' surface or if it was mostly fine dust. JWST and Hubble picked up different wavelengths of light (infrared and visible, respectively). This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |